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BMW MOTORRAD ITALIA GOLDBET SBK TEAM - MOSCOW RACEWAY - SATURDAY
Sat Aug 25 16:13:40 CEST 2012 Press Release
It has been a difficult Saturday at the Moscow Raceway for the BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team. Michel Fabrizio and Ayrton Badovini finished Qualifying 2 outside the top-16 and consequently could not take part in the afternoon's Superpole. The two riders will start tomorrow's races from the fifth row on the grid in seventeenth and nineteenth positions respectively.
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It has been a difficult Saturday at the Moscow Raceway for the BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team. Michel Fabrizio and Ayrton Badovini finished Qualifying 2 outside the top-16 and consequently could not take part in the afternoon's Superpole. The two riders will start tomorrow's races from the fifth row on the grid in seventeenth and nineteenth positions respectively.
Michel Fabrizio experienced a technical problem during the second qualifying session that forced him back to the pits where the team worked to fix it in the quickest time possible. Once he got back on track he faced rain drops in the first and fifth sector that prevented him from improving his best lap time by enough to gain the access to the Superpole. Michel finished 17th and was outside the top-16 by just 8 thousands of a second.
Ayrton Badovini lost the entire session due to an engine issue on his first quick lap attempt. His 1'36.326 personal best lap from yesterday meant he is in nineteenth position in the combined results of the two qualifying session with no entry to Superpole.
Serafino Foti, BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team Sporting Director, said: "It's been a very tough qualifying session. Ayrton had the big issue of his engine failing after just one lap and since there's only one bike available for each rider he could not get back on track. The lap time set yesterday was not good enough unfortunately and did not allow him to move on to Superpole, as the times were very close.
Michel had a small issue too, and once it was resolved the light rain affected his performance and he was not able to finish in the top sixteen. That's how it goes, sometimes. Tomorrow we'll start the race from the fifth row and today we'll work hard in Free Practice 2 to prepare for the races."
Michel Fabrizio #84 - QP 17th (1'36.182) Superpole NQ "It's a shame to be out of Superpole by just eight thousands of a second. Unfortunately I had a small technical problem and in the last part of the session, once I got back on track, some rain drops fell in the first and in the last sector of the track. That's racing, though we need to stay focused and give our best in the two races despite starting from the seventeenth grid slot."
Ayrton Badovini #86 - QP 19th (1'36.326) Superpole NQ "We made some adjustments and I was feeling good with the bike but then the engine failed and that wasted the entire session. There's not much to do in these circumstances. We'll continue working for the two races in both Free Practice 2 and the warm-up."
Qualifying 1- Davide Giugliano (Ducati) 1’35.074 2- Carlos Checa (Ducati) + 0.148 3- Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) + 0.329 7- Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) + 0.698 12- Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) + 0.915 17- Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team) + 1.108 19- Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team) + 1.252